The present invention is a lightweight, flexible holder for SCUBA tanks and the like, which is portable and may be easily placed upon a boat deck or similar supporting surface to permit SCUBA tanks to be easily stored, and prevented from rolling about the supporting surface.
There are a number of portable stacking holders for cylindrical storage containers described in the prior art. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,786,932 Smith describes a plastic drill core tray having a plurality of longitudinally extending channels disposed in side-by-side relationship, in order to store drilling cores. A similar drilling core holding arrangement is described by Guenard in U.S. Pat. No. 3,581,929. In Canadian Pat. No. 972,302, there is described a foam plastic core tray having individual flutes, each of which is arc-shaped to accommodate a cylindrical core sample, and in which the tray is described as being fabricated from plastic.
Other prior art of interest includes the following: U.S. Pat. No. 3,926,321 to Trebilcock (a stacking aid for cylindrical containers including a substantially rectangular framework having spaced openings to receive an arcuate portion of the cylindrical container, to prevent movement); U.S. Pat. No. 3,019,916 to Malcher (a portable drum rack which is symmetrical to a center horizontal plane, and is adapted to support a pair of drums in a stackable fashion); British Patent Specification No. 1,580,032 to Partington (double sided spacer used between layers of stacked casks or drums); and French Pat. No. 2,432,953 to Charlin (cradle for a gas bottle includes notched profiled wedged elements which are collapsible for easy storage and for use in a car boot).
There is a need for a low cost, lightweight and flexible holder for SCUBA tanks and the like, which may be used to prevent SCUBA tanks from rolling about the deck of a boat or similar supporting surface.